"An Order of Ignatius Loyola" — an annotation to Thomas Carlyle's "Signs of the Times"

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An Order of Ignatius Loyola: Saint Ignatius of Loyola founded the Society of Jesus after receiving the permission of Pope Paul III in 1540. A Spanish soldier turned priest after finding spirituality following being wounded in battle, he and his followers the Jesuits participated in the Counter-Reformation, working to reform within the church as a way by which to oppose the rise of Protestantism. Today the Jesuits, also known as God's marines, work in such fields as education, the pursuit of theological and intellectual research, and missionary work.

In Thomas Carlyle's "Signs of the Times" Carlyle criticizes the Order of Ignatius Loyola for existing as a mechanical phenomena. Carlyle explains the shift in religious view in the following way: "This is not a Religious age. Only the material, the immediately practical, not the divine and spiritual, is important to us...Our true Deity is Mechanism." Carlyle sees Ignatius Loyola and his followers as simply another religious machine, producing zombie-like followers instead of devout worshipers of god. The Carlyle Encyclopedia too emphasizes Carlyle's dislike for Loyola:
"If the great Protestant leaders Martine Luther, John Knox, and Oliver Cromwell are Carlyle's heroes in the history of Western religion, St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) is his villain...The spirit of unveracity generated by Loyola has, in Carlyle's view, infected all avenues of modern life, including literature and religion." (250).

If the great Protestant leaders Martin Luther, John Knox, and Oliver Cromwell are Carlyle's heroes in the history of Western religion, St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) is his villain. . .The spirit of unveracity generated by Loyola has, in Carlyle's view, infected all avenues of modern life, including literature and religion." (250).